Volume 8, Issue 3, 1994
News of conferences and workshops
STATA Workshop
The Centre for Computing in Economics at Bristol ran a one day ESRC sponsored
introductory workshop on the software package STATA on the 21st September. STATA
is a statistics graphics and data management package designed for the general analysis of
datasets of a size limited only by the machine on which it runs. Versions are available for
the PC (DOS only) and UNIX and may be run either interactively or in batch mode. It has
an extensive library of estimation routines and programming features that are ever more
sophisticated with each new version. Because of its inherent flexibility it is an ideal solution
for the initial reading and analysis of both small and large datasets, and is particularly
useful for generating tables of summary statistics or graphs and for implementing
conventional estimation techniques.
The PC version of STATA which was featured in the Workshop, very capably conducted
by Dr. James Banks from the Institute of Fiscal Studies London, is available in two
"flavours". Plain STATA for DOS and a jazzily named Intercooled STATA. The important
difference between the two PC versions is that 'standard' STATA will run on any 286 (or
better) machine with at least 512K of RAM, but it has fixed limits on the maximum size
of dataset, whereas Intercooled STATA requires a minimum of a 386DX processor with at
least 4Mb of RAM and the size of the dataset is limited only by the amount of memory
available on the machine.
This introductory STATA course, which was very enthusiatically received by the
participants, is planned to be repeated in the Spring of 1995, and the Centre for Computing
in Economics Bristol are also planning to supplement this with an Advanced STATA
course.
Mike Emslie
CTI Centre for Economics, University of Bristol
Workshop on Using the Family Expenditure Survey
A workshop on Using the Family Expenditure Survey is to be held on 14 November in the
Brittania Conference Centre near Kings Cross in London.
It promises to be a very interesting day when presentations will be given by John King of
the CSO and by Tony Manners of OPCS on the recent developments on the FES including
the change to computer assisted personal interviewing, the extension of diary keeping to
children, and major data processing changes. There will also be papers on the new
methodology for collecting price data, the Census checks on FES non-respondents and
developments to the FES in Northern Ireland. The day will end with presentations on the
Family Resources Survey - a dataset soon to be acquired by the Data Archive - and by an
FES user.
There will be lots of opportunity throughout the day for formal and informal discussion
between the data users and producers. The charge is œ20 to cover the cost of lunch and
refreshments, and the workshop is open to all interested researchers - you do not have to
be a current FES user. The workshop will be especially valuable to those contemplating
using the FES or FRS for research or teaching, or for those with an interest in survey
methodology. PhD students will be welcome. For more information contact Rowan Currie
at the
ESRC Data Archive at Essex University: Tel 0206 872001; Fax 0206 872003; E-mail
rowan@essex.ac.uk
Denise Lievesley
ESRC Data Archive,University of Essex
SSIT 94 The Second International Conference on Social Science Information Technology
This conference will be held at the RAI Congress Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
from the 7th - 9th December 1994. Topics will include: Structural Equation Modeling,
Scaling, Experimentation and Observation, Social Network Analysis, Statistical Computer
Applications, Innovative Educational Systems, Decision Challenges and the Role of
Knowledge, Brain Research and Task Performance, Psychological Assessment, Content and
Text Analysis, Computer-Assisted Data Collection, Neural and Self-Organizing Networks,
and Visualization.
Contact: SSIT 94 Organizing Committee,
iec ProGAMMA, P.O. Box 841,9700 AV
Groningen, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 50 636 900 Fax: +31 50 636 687
Email: gamma.post@gamma.rug.nl
Management and Analysis of Time Dependent Data
A one-day conference on the Management and Analysis of Time Dependent Data has been
organised by the Association for Survey Computing (formerly the Study Group on
Computing in Survey Analysis). It is to be held at Imperial College London on Friday 6th
January 1995. Proposals for papers are welcome on any of the following themes: (i) The
special problems associated with time dependent data, (ii) Case studies of longitudinal data
sets, (iii) Techniques and software specifically designed for longitudinal data. Contributions
from researchers involved in the ESRC Analysis of Large and Complex Data Initiative will
be particularly welcomed. Interested speakers, exhibitors and participants should contact
Diana Elder, ASC, PO Box 60, Chesham, Bucks HP5 3QH. Phone/fax 0494 793033. Email
asc@sx.ac.uk.
CAL 95 Learning to Succeed
CAL 95 will take place at Queen's College, Cambridge from 10th to 13th April 1995. The
theme of the conference is how to maximise successful learning with technology and how
to learn from our experiences with it. The conference will offer delegates a distinctive and
seminal look at what has been achieved to date through the introduction of computers into
education and what might be achieved in the future. Proposals are invited for papers,
panels, workshops, and poster displays on one or more of the themes below. All sectors of
education may be addressed - primary, secondary, further and higher education.
Contributions are also encouraged from the business and training sectors. Selected papers
will be published in a special issue of Computers and Education.
Key Topics:
- i) The Management of Change: How should education at all levels adapt its
methods and attitudes to the opportunities of the new technologies? How can this be done?
- ii) Lessons from the past: What can we say with conviction about past computer-aided
learning experiences?
- iii) Principles and strategies for the future: Can these be formulated?
Is there a growing island of stability in how to use IT in education?
- iv) Technological opportunities: What technological opportunities can we foresee? What for example will be
the uses and effects of the information super-highway and hypermedia technologies?
- v) Collaboration: What are the opportunities that IT offers for greater collaborative learning
among students and between different institutions and countries?
- vi) Continuity and Progression Education tends to be corralled into rigid sectors, but learners move through
these sectors and thence into work. How can continuity and progression be ensured?
- vii) Evaluation of IT practices in Education: Objective evaluation is essential to establish the
worth of any innovation. Can we move beyond assertion to evidence? If so, how?
- viii) The contribution of IT to successful learning: What is the place of IT in the spectrum of
educational practice? What value does it add?
- ix) Partnerships between Business and Education: What have business and education to learn from each other about their uses of
technology and how should they share in its development? How can IT help business and
education to make preparation for work more effective?
There will be four keynote sessions on primary, secondary, higher/furthereducation and
business. Other sessions will consist of invited papers in parallel with contributed papers,
panels and workshops. Contributed papers will be scheduled for half an hour (including
discussion); panels will be given an hour; workshops may be of 1,2 or 3 hours duration.
The closing date for proposals was September 30th 1994.
For further information contact: CAL95 Conference Secretariat,
University of Cambridge, Computing Service, New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QG Tel: +44
223 334600; Fax: +44 223 334679; Email: CAL95@ucs.cam.ac.uk
HYPERMEDIA AT WORK - Practice and Theory in Higher Education
A conference on "Hypermedia at Work" will be held at the University of Kent at
Canterbury from 10th - 12th January, 1995. (There will be special introductory tutorial
sessions from 9th - 10th January). "Hypermedia at Work" aims to bring together those who
are new to hypermedia with those who are already developing and using hypermedia
materials. If you are interested in seeing and discussing what hypermedia applications
such as the World Wide Web might have to offer you in your teaching or your research,
this conference is for you. The conference is supported by SEDA (Staff and Educational
Development Association) as a staff development event. Delegates may be able to get
assistance with the cost of the conference and travel from their Staff Development Office
or from other sources. The conference will consist of workshops, plenary talks, posters and
demonstrations.
Interest in using hypermedia for teaching and learning in higher education has never been
greater. More and more development projects are now ready to deliver hypermedia
courseware for use by the higher education community. Staff who want to use these
materials must look to the skills and expertise of those with experience to explore and try
to resolve the issues raised by the introduction of hypermedia into the learning cycle.
Pre-conference introductory tutorials have been organised for those who want to find out
more about the basic facts and features of hypermedia. Tutorials will cover `What is
Hypermedia?', `Hypermedia and Learning' and `Using Networks to access the World Wide
Web'.
The conference themes are 1) The practical use of hypermedia applications in the
classroom; 2) Theoretical principles, drawn from experience, in the use of hypermedia for
learning; 3) Shared, cross disciplinary experiences and discipline specific views; 4) The use
of the World Wide Web for teaching and research purposes.
Keynote speakers will include - Professor Peter Brown (University of Kent), the developer
of Guide hypertext; Professor Wendy Hall (University of Southampton), one of the
developers of Microcosm, a hypermedia system with tremendous potential for the
production of resource based learning materials; Professor George P Landow (Brown
University, USA), a leading figure in the use of hypermedia in teaching; Professor Terry
Mayes (Heriot-Watt University), Director of Research at the Institute for Computer-Based
Learning.
The conference organisers are Professor Wendy Hall, Su White, (both of University of
Southampton),Dr Marilyn Deegan (University of Oxford), Wilma Strang (University of
Kent) and Richard Kemp (SEDA Conference Committee).
For further information, conference registration form etc. contact:
Lynn Maitland,
Conference Secretary, Hypermedia at Work Conference,
Computing Laboratory, University
of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NF. Email L.P.Maitland@ukc.ac.uk Tel 0227 764000 ext 7618
Fax 0227 762811
